Girl, please take a look at yourself. Iâm definitely not going to keep babying you if you keep up this arrogant bs.
Zu An was a man who didnât simp.
âAre you waiting for me to beg you?â As if she saw through his intentions, a pondering expression appeared on Yun Jianyueâs face.
âNope, not at all. Thatâs nonsense.â Zu An refuted three times in a row. âOf course, if you want to talk nicely, itâs not like I wonât change my mind.â
Yun Jianyue chuckled. âSure, Iâll just tell those guards that come that youâre my accomplice, that you used your identity as a golden token envoy to bring us assassins. What do you think about that?â
Zu An: ââ¦â¦â
Fine, you win!
Helpless to do anything about it, he could only say, âItâll be hard to bring you out of the palace now. Hide at my place for now and wait out the storm. Once you recover, weâll leave then.â
It wasnât very likely for him to bring her out with the same method he used for Qiu Honglei. Furthermore, the Left and Right Guard Generals, Zhuxie Chixin, the Guerilla Warfare General, and the others were all over the palace searching for her. A single mishap and heâll end up running into them. Yun Jianyue was also seriously injured right now, so she might not even be able to make it over the palace walls.
Yun Jinayue didnât refuse. âAlright.â
Zu An left to look around. He saw that there was no one around, so he waved towards her. âLetâs go.â
Yun Jiayue got up. Her body suddenly staggered. She was clearly a bit dizzy.
Zu An frowned. âLet me help you.â
She knew that there was no way she would let him carry her. He didnât deliberately make things harder either.
Yun Jianyue nodded and slowly reached over her hand.
Zu An: ââ¦â¦â
She looked like a concubine who was out for a stroll or something, while he was just a lesser eunuch.
Fine, Iâll let you have your way out of respect for Honglei.
He reached out his hand and supported her, and then slowly walked towards his own residence.
âYou wonât come and kill me just because I held your hand in the future, right?â
He learned from his past experiences. There was a heap of trouble after he touched the crown princess. He didnât want to go through so much effort saving someone only to end up not only without any benefits, but with a ton of trouble instead.
âWhy would I kill you?â Yun Jianyue gave him a weird look. âJust because you touched my hand?â
It was now Zu Anâs turn to be shocked. âDo men often touch your hands?â
Sheâs already used to it?
But when he thought about how she came from the Devil Sect, he felt that this made sense as well. However, he still felt weird for some reason.
Sigh, the inferiority complexes of men. Why do we all become idiots when we meet beautiful women?
âI do suddenly feel an urge to kill you after hearing what you just said though.â Yun Jianyue harrumphed.
Zu An instead felt happier when he heard this reply. So no one else touched you⦠Very good, very good.
Yun Jianyue frowned. âStop wasting time chatting already. There are guards looking everywhere right now. I donât want to run into them.â
Normally, her divine senses could easily stretch across a range of a few dozen li. Nothing in that area would escape her detection. Unfortunately, she was seriously injured right now and didnât have this ability anymore.
She was so used to easily sensing her enemies that she felt deaf and blind right now. This really was unsettling.
Zu An chuckled. âDonât worry, thereâs no one around us.â
Yun Jianyue was confused. She didnât know where his confidence came from. Could it be that his cultivation already reached a point where his divine senses could extend outwards?
But she was impressed by the rest of their journey. There were several times when Zu An pulled her to the side. She thought that he wanted to take advantage of her, but she immediately understood when she saw the guards who came right after he pulled her to the side.
This happened several times, and they managed to hide from them each time. It was as if he already knew their locations ahead of time.
Yun Jianyue finally couldnât hold back her curiosity. âHow are you doing this?â
Zu An smiled. âThatâs a secret.â
He obviously couldnât extend his senses, but he used other methods to achieve similar results.
He had the jade badge in his hands, allowing him to control the surrounding small creatures. The imperial palace was full of greenery. There were trees, plants, as well as all types of cats, mice, birds, and other creatures. The guards wouldnât be on guard against them, so how could they know that these little things already became his eyes and ears?
By borrowing these small creatures, Zu An was able to detect the guardsâ whereabouts ahead of time. That was why he was able to calmly bring her to his own residence even with people searching everywhere in the palace.
Yun Jianyue couldnât bring herself to ask more when she saw him put on this mysterious act. For cultivators, many skills were their life saving measures. It was indeed not wise to reveal them to outsiders.
She thought to herself that she would find a chance to ask her disciple in the future and see if she knew.
Zu An used his waist token to open up the residenceâs restrictions, and then he invited Yun Jianyue inside. âThis is the golden token envoyâs residence. Normally speaking, no one would come in, so you can peacefully nurse yourself here.â
He even deliberately stuck out his chest when he mentioned the golden token. He wanted to flaunt and impress the other party a bit, yet she didnât show any interest.
âThanks.â Yun Jianyue looked around. This place was indeed quite secluded and suitable for her to weather the storm.
Seeing that she didnât play along, Zu Anâs interest also waned. âBy the way, how did you end up in the rock garden? That place isnât too far from the emperorâs imperial study. Werenât you scared of being discovered?â
Yun Jianyue slowly sat down on a chair. Even though she was seriously injured, there were no issues that could be picked from her bearing. Her posture was upright, making her chest rise and waist look thin. Her body lines looked especially enchanting.
Her lips parted, her gentle voice carrying a bit of coldness. âThe most dangerous place will often be the safest. It is because it was closest to the imperial study that the guards would subconsciously choose to overlook that area. That is why I could use âMirror Mirageâ to hide my aura and escape their detection. Of courseâ¦â
She paused for a moment and said, âIf the emperor really was in the palace, then I wouldnât have dared to take this risk.â
Zu Anâs eyes lit up. He remembered the task the emperor gave him and quickly asked, âHow did you know that the emperor wasnât in the palace?â
Yun Jianyue gave him an expressionless look. She clearly didnât plan to reply to him.
Zu An didnât expect things to change that quickly. He could only say, âHow about I exchange information with you? Werenât you curious about how I avoided those guardsâ detection?â
Yun Jianyue sneered in mockery. âNo way. These two pieces of information arenât equal. Of course, I wouldnât tell you even if you had something worth trading. I will not sell out that person.â
Seeing how firm her expression was, Zu An was a bit disappointed. Seems like I have to look for a different method.
âHow did you meet Honglei?â Yun Jianyue suddenly gave the Embroidered Envoy before her a curious look. She understood her own disciple the best. She looked nice to everyone on the surface, making them feel wonderful, but she was actually an extremely proud and aloof woman who would never accept other men. She only treated them like a game.
Yet she became friends with this person, and her precious disciple even gave him her Mirror Mirage. Meanwhile, he was willing to risk nine generations of clan eradication to save her. Their relationship was definitely close.
Zu Anâs first reaction was to use this information for exchange, but he quickly dispelled this thought. This wasnât something worth hiding, since she would find out once she asked Honglei. He might as well just tell her to get some brownie points.
Once he got enough of these brownie points, he would make her realize that he wasnât some easy prostitute.
What was the most expensive thing in this world? It was often free things that were the most expensive.
âWe met in Brightmoon City.â
Yun Jianyue was stirred when she heard his reply. âYouâre Zu An?â
Zu An was shocked. He removed his mask. âI didnât expect you to know me.â
âHmph, it would be harder for me to not know you.â Yun Jianyue recalled the intelligence she received earlier. Qiu Honglei was going to marry into the Chu clan as a concubine! Back then, she thought that the girl was merely finding a way to plot against the Chu clan.
But during Zu Anâs journey to the capital, Qiu Honglei showed Zu An mercy several times. The sectâs Solitary Eight noted all of these things.
Furthermore, there was this interaction this time. It would be more strange if there wasnât something going on between them.
Zu An was about to say something when he heard Zhuxie Chixinâs voice. âEleven, are you there?â